| ▲ | Evidlo 14 hours ago |
| Some other open source 3D CAD tools: Code-based - CadQuery - https://github.com/CadQuery/cadquery/ - build123d - https://github.com/gumyr/build123d - OpenSCAD - https://openscad.cloud/openscad/ GUI (browser-based) - Cadmium (abandoned, cool idea) - https://mattferraro.dev/posts/cadmium |
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| ▲ | gmueckl 13 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| FreeCAD: https://freecad.org |
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| ▲ | Pay08 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | I would not suggest anyone use FreeCAD. The UX is the worst I've seen for any software. Finding any functionality is next to impossible. | | |
| ▲ | sho_hn an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | It's been improving rapidly. The upcoming (imminently) 1.1 has a large amount of modern UI affordances, such as on-canvas gizmos that at times actually are easier to use than e.g. the Fusion ones. I'm a heavy Fusion user, but for me FreeCAD is nearly there now and the improvement over 1.0.x is massive. There's a lot more to do, but my feeling is the project is taking UI/UX design much more seriously than it has in the past, with the ramp-up of an internal design-focused team etc. I get that feeling from reading the weekly progress updates and MR discussions. I'm very optimistic for the future of FreeCAD personally. I think it's a great time to contribute if you are interested in making UI/UX better as well because there's much higher interest in that kind of work now. I think it's close to having its own Blender/KiCAD moment. | |
| ▲ | gmueckl 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | The UI has an awkward learning curve and some tools are weird, but it has become a rather solid CAD. Don't discount it in its current state, despite its warts. | |
| ▲ | mitthrowaway2 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I disagree. If you switch to the Part Design workbench, it's basically the exact same workflow as SolidWorks. Draw a sketch, add constraints, extrude / revolve / fillet, etc. Yes they have some unconventional names for certain operations, like "pad" instead of "extrude", and yes there's a confusingly-similarly-named "Part" workbench for doing CSG-style CAD, and yes it takes a bit of practice to get good at it. But it's not next to impossible. | |
| ▲ | gloosx 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Can't agree, I'm a complete newbie in CAD, and after I opened FreeCAD I didn't know what to do at all. Watched one youtube video covering all the basics and I can design whatever I want with confidence. Besides being free – it's very intuitive and great piece of software in my opinion | |
| ▲ | wolvoleo 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Yeah I just end up using Fusion 360. But depending on a freebie for hobbyists that could be withdrawn any time it's a bit worrying. I wish there were good visual tools. I don't like browser based and blender is too focused on animation (I'm more into 3D printing) so I haven't found a good FOSS alternative. FreeCAD isn't it anyway. | |
| ▲ | bardsore 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I'm just a hobbyist with a 3D printer, but after watching a few tutorials it seems quite simple if you're only using the sketcher and part design 90% of the time. |
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| ▲ | autumn-antlers 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| libfive - https://libfive.com guile scheme, bindings in Rust and Python personally exited to check it out for real constructive-solid modeling, as opposed to emulating that workflow over OpenCascade's (fickle but otherwise lovely) BREP modeling (ie. edges & faces) via build123d (which has been great but is increasingly vibe-coded :/) discussed previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12319406 a real constructive solid library (as opposed to emulation via modeling), with |
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| ▲ | wlesieutre 13 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Cadova - https://github.com/tomasf/Cadova SolveSpace - https://github.com/solvespace/solvespace |
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| ▲ | bauta-steen 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Truck (Rust CAD Kernel) - https://github.com/ricosjp/truck |
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| ▲ | kennywinker 13 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| JSCAD (formerly OpenJSCAD) https://openjscad.xyz/ Awesome because you can build a model, expose the parameters, and allow web users to generate a model to fit their parameters. |
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| ▲ | RobotToaster 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Brl-cad https://brlcad.org/ |
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| ▲ | dr_win 13 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| vcad was started in 2026 and has great ambitions: https://docs.vcad.io |
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| ▲ | fortran77 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I've been "vibe coding" with OpenSCAD with good results! OpenSCAD will automatically detect changes in the current open file and reload it, so I can use VS Code (with the OpenSCAD extension) to vibe code with Claude, and watch the changes appear on the OpenSCAD screen |
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| ▲ | tosti 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| KiCad - https://www.kicad.org/ |
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